tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33952402012-01-18T18:55:29.432ZA libertarian look at Scottish politicsDavid Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.comBlogger2681125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-8104770755848669842012-01-18T18:05:00.014Z2012-01-18T18:33:56.223Z2012-01-18T18:33:56.223Z

The SNP MSP Margaret Joan McAlpine has got herself into a bit of trouble:What I said that day was clipped on some television bulletins in a way which cut me off mid-sentence so that I seem to be saying that Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Tories were anti-Scottish, full stop.But there was no full stop. The sentence goes on to say “in coming together to defy the will of the Scottish people

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-82574145781423858372011-12-30T09:08:00.003Z2011-12-30T10:03:13.844Z2011-12-30T10:03:13.844Z

From Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism:In the interwar period, the large Austrian banks had consciously sought to win economists of Schumpeter's standing as front men to reassure their creditors from abroad. They had also asked Mises for support several times, but he always rejected these proposals because he thought the commercial banks were all bankrupt. This was not a pose. He had in fact

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-84541536087015683522011-12-29T16:30:00.006Z2011-12-29T16:41:46.983Z2011-12-29T16:41:46.983Z

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-36691703921273949362011-12-29T16:26:00.003Z2011-12-29T16:30:25.045Z2011-12-29T16:30:25.045Z

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-20995436912608575222011-12-29T15:48:00.008Z2011-12-29T16:04:49.178Z2011-12-29T16:04:49.178Z

Here we go again:PUBLIC money should be used to subsidise more direct flights from Scotland to China, Russia, India and BrazilNow I'm a fan of aviation having been brought up at Prestwick, but this is ridiculous. Just the sort of nonsense one would expect from the Labour party.But read on:Both Labour and the Conservatives yesterday urged SNP ministers to set up a dedicated pot of cash to tempt

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-46251352707998254442011-12-26T16:30:00.020Z2011-12-26T17:27:02.456Z2011-12-26T17:27:02.456Z

I'm not saying that one should or shouldn't want to save the Union but simply explaining how it could be saved. And this is the only way.Back in May I wrote this:I have no doubt at all that most nationalists are motivated by questions of identity, not finance. Of course it helps their case if the economics look good but what they are working towards is for Scotland to be a normal country.It

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-45953947822023991892011-12-25T22:11:00.014Z2011-12-25T22:34:46.129Z2011-12-25T22:34:46.129Z

With acknowledgement to: these guys.(CLICK image for clearer version)

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-38276458294817655732011-12-24T16:17:00.007Z2011-12-24T16:42:09.835Z2011-12-24T16:42:09.835Z

A local currency for Edinburgh?Perhaps:PLANS to introduce a new local currency for Edinburgh have been approved, despite concerns about forgeries.I see that Councillor Jim Lowrie has "raised concerns about the potential for counterfeiting". I know Cllr. Lowrie, and he's right.The problem is that any government created paper currency is counterfeit unless it's backed 100% by some real asset. Will

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Sorry about the long gap.

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-16148550405574499662011-10-31T17:11:00.008Z2011-10-31T17:43:55.768Z2011-10-31T17:43:55.768Z

The lack of postings since the Vienna trip is partly because I'm trying to arrange my affairs as best as possible while faced with the current financial situation.Here's a good interview in which James Turk talks to Adam Fergusson.

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-52369108582362813542011-10-03T18:25:00.006+01:002011-10-03T18:42:43.072+01:002011-10-03T18:42:43.072+01:00

These two signs were photographed at the same tram stop in Vienna. Just outside the university as it happens.Mr Engels was of course one of the people behind communism. But who knows about Joachimsthaler? Actually, his name ultimately led to the word dollar.A hundred years ago the professors at Vienna University understood why communism couldn't work. And they'd probably have been horrified to be

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-58580887553835878902011-10-02T15:50:00.002+01:002011-10-02T15:52:23.622+01:002011-10-02T15:52:23.622+01:00

Bratislava, a photo by David Farrer on Flickr.

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-84229201586679087122011-09-30T16:12:00.003+01:002011-09-30T16:34:38.797+01:002011-09-30T16:34:38.797+01:00

Last week I went to the Mises Institute conference in Vienna.The world's greatest economist was born 130 years ago and it was appropriate for us to mark that anniversary by meeting in the home of the Austrian School of Economics. Remember when back in 2008 the Queen asked why no-one saw the economic crisis coming? Well, the Austrians did. And we know why the crisis continues, and we see no sign

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-27500176916159693522011-09-03T18:59:00.002+01:002011-09-03T19:01:15.454+01:002011-09-03T19:01:15.454+01:00

Scottish Saturday, a photo by David Farrer on Flickr.

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-7781086766861218192011-08-27T20:07:00.000+01:002011-08-29T14:18:15.160+01:002011-08-29T14:18:15.160+01:00

Sobel is the author of the excellent Longitude book that I had read some time ago. I hadn't realised that her new work on Copernicus was originally planned to be a play but the play is now contained in the book. We were treated to a short extract from the play performed by two Scottish actors. Sobel herself is American. I'd never seen anything like this before at the Book Festival but it went

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This morning we went along to hear Melvyn Bragg on the King James Bible. Bragg spent a lot of time talking about the use of short Anglo-Saxon words, often from Tyndale:Around 85 per cent of the Authorised Version comes from Tyndale, whose muscular poetry he describes as “bitten into our tongue”. Tyndale gave us so many enduring phrases: “let there be light”, “a man after his own heart”, “rise and

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-6644819470877397662011-08-26T22:58:00.000+01:002011-08-28T17:04:23.598+01:002011-08-28T17:04:23.598+01:00

At eight this evening I heard a talk by Elish Angiolini, formerly the Lord Advocate, the first woman and the first solicitor to hold this post.Dull but worthy would sum up this event.Angiolini probably isn't going to be a media star like Ferguson, but then again Ferguson isn't ever going to be Lord Advocate...

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-6965616463166088912011-08-26T22:37:00.006+01:002011-08-28T21:05:48.477+01:002011-08-28T21:05:48.477+01:00

Early evening found us once more in the big tent at the Book Festival, this time to hear Niall Ferguson. The event was chaired by Iain Macwhirter, a Herald journalist who is also Rector of Edinburgh University.You may think that Mr Macwhirter is a traditional old-time socialist, but some of us have been working on him! A few months ago I attended a dinner that featured Macwhirter as guest speaker

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-14314055791179310192011-08-26T16:32:00.004+01:002011-08-26T16:48:03.442+01:002011-08-26T16:48:03.442+01:00

Mrs F&W picked up the Summer 2011 issue of Pocket Money, a Royal Bank publication that seems to be aimed at children. Nothing wrong with that of course, but then we spotted this:When the price of goods goes up over a period of time it's known as inflation.That's true. Increasing prices are now known as inflation. However, I prefer the original definition: inflation is an increase in the money

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-59690579603751689782011-08-25T21:27:00.001+01:002011-08-26T16:31:23.576+01:002011-08-26T16:31:23.576+01:00

I enjoyed hearing about Kershaw's new book which was published today and is already on its third printing. There were certainly plenty of reviews last weekend.This was a very professional presentation that was followed by lots of questions. Sadly, the hardcover version costs £30. I'll wait for the paperback.

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-67082461031200929712011-08-24T22:03:00.005+01:002011-08-26T16:21:25.985+01:002011-08-26T16:21:25.985+01:00

Tonight we heard Ed Vulliamy speak about his new book. We'd kind of expected it to be about the huge inflow of Mexicans into the US as described so vividly by Victor Davis Hanson.But the talk (and the book) was mainly about the huge drug industry on the Mexican side of the border:This absorbing odyssey along the Mexican-American border gives pause for thought to anyone who ignores the

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-64689892119117083062011-08-23T21:01:00.004+01:002011-08-25T14:50:22.273+01:002011-08-25T14:50:22.273+01:00

I was really looking forward to hearing John Hegarty speak tonight. I worked in the advertising business from 1975 to 1995 and John was one of the big names in the eighties and nineties through the Bartle Bogle Hegarty agency.I'd guess that most of the Book Festival regulars are more Guardian than Telegraph types, to put in English terms, and I wasn't too sure what folk would make of a

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-51741680218128670742011-08-22T21:05:00.000+01:002011-08-25T11:03:14.313+01:002011-08-25T11:03:14.313+01:00

Around twenty years ago when I was living in London I knew an Andrew O'Hagan. He was the son of one of our directors and he worked in our post room before going to university. If I recall correctly, he wanted to be a writer. His parents came from Glasgow and they also had Ayrshire connections. All of this fitted in perfectly with the biography of the novelist Andrew O'Hagan. Even the photos on

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We rounded off Saturday evening with Alexander McCall Smith at an event chaired by Al Senter. It is quite impossible to recall precisely what happens at these events. McCall Smith talks about this and that, the audience laughs, more anecdotes, louder laughter, and before you know it the hour is up and we're looking forward to the next time by which time he'll probably have written another dozen

David Farrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09483264039944116992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3395240.post-43780026383924041852011-08-20T22:56:00.003+01:002011-08-25T10:32:49.975+01:002011-08-25T10:32:49.975+01:00

Rachel Hewitt's Map of a Nation: A Biography of the Ordnance Survey talk was very enjoyable. She started by discussingg the extensive military mapping of the Highlands that was done after Culloden. Previous maps of the north were very much a matter of hit or miss. We were told of an Army commander who was somewhat perplexed when a promontory on his rudimentary map turned out to be an island!The

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